Fancy Pants Techniques - Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of the dessert techniques series! Today I will be covering a technique that is bound to impress: tempering chocolate. If you've cooked with chocolate before, you may have noticed that once you have cooked with it, it can become dull, soft, and even have a white "bloom" sort of appearance on the surface. This happens because when in a solid form, the cocoa butter crystals in the chocolate are suspended. However when it is heated, this suspension is broken and the crystals surface, causing the "bloom" appearance when it is cooled. So whilst it still tastes nice, it doesn't look the best!
The idea of tempering the chocolate is to return the chocolate to it's suspended state and ensure that when you use it, e.g. for chocolate moulds or cake decorating, it maintains that glossy finish and crisp snap. Here's the how-to:

How to Temper Chocolate

What you will need:

• Required chocolate for your recipe
• A cooking thermometer
• A saucepan of simmering water 
• A bowl that sits on top of your saucepan but not fully in it 
• A spatula or spoon

Method:

1. Chop the chocolate in to pieces of the same size, as small as you can get them. Alternatively, you can roughly chop the chocolate and blitz it in a food processor in order to ensure uniformity.
2. Place 2/3 of the chocolate in the bowl and sit it in the saucepan over the top if the water, but not touching it (as contact with the water will make your chocolate too hot and the elements will separate).
3. Melt the chocolate to 50 degrees Celsius, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove the chocolate from the heat and add the remaining 1/3 of chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is consistent and reaches 32 degrees Celsius.

Test: spread your chocolate in a thin layer on to a plate. If it sets quickly and has a shiny, smooth finish, you have successfully tempered your chocolate!

For a demonstration video, click here. 

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/techniques/how_to_temper_chocolate

http://www.cadburykitchen.com.au/kitchen-tips/view/tempering-chocolate/13/

Posted by Clare Mannion.

Fancy Pants Techniques Part 1

Hello fellow foodies,

So I would like to teach you how to use a few fancy-pants pastry chef techniques, and today is Part One in the two-part series! These techniques can be slightly more advanced and are for those of you who are looking to up the ante on your baked goods, pastries, or desserts in general. The techniques I will be laying out include how to temper chocolate, which is basically making sure your chocolate looks nice and shiny and snaps crisply after you have cooked with it, and how to quenelle something such as cream in a slightly more sophisticated fashion than the good old dollop. Both of these techniques are great for the presentation of your dishes, so listen up if you're eager to impress! Today I will be covering how to quenelle.

How to Quenelle 

What you'll need:

• Two spoons of the same size - go for a deeper spoon if you can, as it makes creating a rounder shape much easier! The spoons should be at a temperature warm enough to manipulate the ingredient, but not so warm that they melt it.
• The ingredient you wish to make in to a quenelle shape, e.g. ice cream, whipped/double cream, or mousse. The ingredient should be at room temperature - i.e. Not so firm that it can't be shaped, but not so close to a liquid that it can't hold it's shape. 

Steps:

1. Hold a spoon in both hands and scoop a reasonable amount of the ingredient into one of your spoons. Carefully scoop underneath the ingredient with the second spoon, transferring the contents between spoons. 
2. Transfer the ingredient back to the original spoon using the same movement. You will notice that this begins to create a smooth, rounded surface. 
3. Keep repeating this process, passing the ingredient between the spoons until you have the smooth, oval shape that you desire.

This can be a bit tricky, so if you need help see this video for further demonstration.

Source: http://www.finecooking.com/item/13273/making-quenelles

Posted by Clare Mannion.

Macaroni Cheese

Macaroni cheese is a quick and easy meal to make, and it's delicious! The cheese sauce used in this recipe can be used for anything - like lasagne, or nachos. The recipe for the cheese sauce I use can be found in Julie Goodwin's book, Our Family Table, an excellent cookbook that you can purchase here. Here is a really easy recipe for how to make Macaroni Cheese.

You will need:

• Pasta
• 50g Butter
• 1/4 cup plain flour
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• Grated Cheese (tasty or cheddar, but you can add blue cheese or another type for taste as well)
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard (or add to taste)
• Salt and Pepper
• Bacon

Step 1

Melt butter in a saucepan. Once melted, add the flour. Begin to boil the water for the pasta. Preheat the oven on grill at about 220 degrees Celsius. 

Step 2

Once the flour and butter mix is like a dough, add the milk, only a little bit at a time - between about 1/8 and a 1/4 of a cup at a time, and stir until absorbed into the mixture. Repeat this until all the milk is added. Don't forget to stir constantly to ensure the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan. Cook the pasta at the same time as adding the milk. 

Step 3

When all the milk has been added keep stirring until the mixture begins to boil.

Step 4

Put in the mustard, and season with salt and pepper. Remembering to continue to stir. Add cheese to taste.

Step 5

Once the pasta is cooked, strain and put into a casserole dish. Pour the cheese sauce over the top, ensuring that it goes over all the pasta.

Step 6

Add some more cheese on top (parmesan is always a good option, as well as tasty or cheddar cheese). Cut up the bacon into small pieces and place on top

Step 7

Place in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes or until the bacon looks cooked. 

Serves 4.

Tips

• I usually use an entire box of Barilla pasta - either tortiglione, or girandole. I rarely actually use macaroni
• You can add anything to the cheese sauce when you add the cheese, for example onion can be a nice addition
• Use any cheese, but for the sauce use mostly tasty cheese. If you put blue cheese you have the choice of putting it on top, or in the sauce. I prefer it in the sauce. Putting a mixture of cheese on top is also quite nice. 
• Perfect if you have leftover ham from Christmas, or another occasion, just use ham instead of bacon
• If cooking for a vegetarian just skip the bacon. 

Happy cooking!

Posted by Lucinda Moore

Tips for Baked Beets

As we in the Southern Hemisphere are in the middle of Autumn, we are beginning to experience chillier weather and as such foodies are tossing out the salads and embracing dishes to warm us up such as soups and roasts. You can find the best veggies to use at this time of year for your soups and roasts here.

One vegetable that is particularly in season and a great addition to your Sunday roast is beetroot, so we've looked far and wide to find our readers the best guide to perfectly roasted beets.

Step 1
Trim the beetroot stem, leaving 2cm still attached. By doing this we stop the juices from leaking and turning everything else on the tray pink. 

Step 2
Wrap the beets in foil and roast on a tray at 180 degrees celsius or 160 degrees celsius fan forced, for at least 45 minutes or until a skewer easily pierces the flesh of the beet.

Step 3
Remove them from the oven and, whilst still warm but not hot, peel the beets. It is important during this step to wear gloves or you will end up with some very pink fingers!

So there you go, perfectly baked beets to go with your roast, or anything else you might like! See below for a visual demonstration.

- Posted by Clare Mannion

Source: http://www.taste.com.au/how+to/ingredients/articles/1438/whats+in+season+++april
http://www.taste.com.au/how+to/cooking+tips/articles/6955/how+to+roast+beetroot 

- Posted by Clare Mannion